SEN. Imee Marcos on Monday urged the government to seek the immediate release of former president Rodrigo Duterte from detention at The Hague, the Netherlands.
She filed Resolution 340 on the eve of Duterte’s first year in detention. The International Criminal Court (ICC), in coordination with the International Police, arrested Duterte on March 11, 2025 to face the charges.
The ICC conducted the confirmation of charges hearing from Feb. 23 to Feb. 27 related to Duterte’s case. The pre-trial chamber granted Duterte’s request to waive his right to attend the hearing.
The senator said one year has passed since the Executive department “carried out the extraordinary rendition” of Duterte.
“Yet, to this day the government has failed to provide accountability or meaningful redress for the ongoing impairment of FPRRD’s (former president Rodrigo Duterte’s) constitutional and statutory rights,” she said.
The senator asked Malacañang to “redress the continuing violation” of his rights and file “appropriate representations to the International Criminal Court for his immediate return to the country.”
Marcos also asked the Senate to urge the Executive department to “fully disclose all communications, agreements, authorizations, requests and operational directives relating to cooperation with the ICC” in connection with the arrest and transfer of Duterte.
She pressed the Marcos administration to “issue a categorical clarification of the official policy of the Philippine government regarding present and future cooperation with the ICC.”
Marcos said the government should “acknowledge the violations of Duterte’s constitutional and statutory rights and hold accountable the officials responsible.”
She asked the government to “refrain from bypassing the Philippine judiciary and engaging in unconstitutional acts in relation to future ICC arrest warrants, if any.”
Marcos said that the circumstances surrounding the arrest and surrender of Duterte and the government’s dealings with the ICC “are matters of the highest public interest and under the settled jurisprudence, not even the executive privilege can be invoked to conceal wrongdoings or shield acts that constitute violations of the Constitution.”
“The Executive department’s persistent lack of transparency, its grave violations of the Bill of Rights, and its circumvention of the Philippine judicial system now give rise to serious and imminent concerns that similar actions may again be undertaken against the political opponents of the administration and retired police officials — thereby threatening to normalize the erosion of constitutional safeguards and the rule of law,” she added.